Oh don't criticise banks ! . . They contribute so much to the economy . . and there employees are all young Einsteins . . !

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaawn.

I dont believe for one minute that this is a permanent situation. Ossy closed this loophole, in the very near future he will design others which will benefit Barclays and others. This is to show that they are working for us, but no, they are working for themselves and thier masters who are the bankers and international mltinationals.

According to the BBC news today it is legal loopholes that allow banks to avoid tax , but if the ordinary man in the street tried it , it would be tax fraud.
Barclays now being an American run bank, I would imagine has more loopholes than others to avoid paying UK tax.

What’s the difference between highly abusive tax avoidance, abusive tax avoidance and plain old tax avoidance? Nothing they are all about the big corporations and the privileged not paying their dues and demands in full.
This is just a drop in the ocean of all tax avoidance in the UK and is the government pulling the wool over peoples eyes so it is perceived that they pursue tax’s due to the full and are fair in that pursuit treating all people and organisations the same.
Until a government of any colour stop all tax avoidance, closing all loop holes, billion of pounds will leave the country every year. In these times of austerity proper collection of taxes from the corporations the period of austerity could be shortened drastically and the burden on the working person lessened.
Every penny I earn is declared and taxed in full and I have no problem with that as I class it has part of my commitment to society, it’s about time our leaders of industry and commerce lead by example and paid up with out trying every trick they can think of to avoid paying what’s due. Until then we are not all in it together.

“Loopholes Closed”
Mary Schapiro (SEC Chairperson) notes that in the States simply instituting a financial fraud tax doesn’t seem to prevent subsequent infringements. Is it time to make the three strikes rule universal throughout the industry?

They would rather chase and inprison the poor hard worker,than go against the mighty banks,another PR excercise.

I see this page is not allowing freedom of speech

There appear to be two elements to this story.

In the first instance the bank (which ever it is) bought back its debt at a profit. This is something that banks all over Europe have been doing. Even the State owned Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley have been reported as doing this at a profit of over £1 billion. The "problem" here appears to be that there was nothing in the 12,000 odd pages of the tax statutes which would make this profit taxable. Therefore the bank would have been wrong to if it did not tax this profit out of the profits subject to tax. Therefore HMRC has had to introduce retrospective legislation to make this profit taxable. What I would like to know is how the Government treated this profit in Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley. Did it also avoid tax?

To be continued:

Poor drafting of the Law is the cause of these loopholes. It makes fortunes for the tax consultants and legal profession, it is legal, and it costs the taxpayer a bundle. Governments (and HMRC) turn a blind eye to them in times of plenty and the squeeze goes on when the Treasury needs the money.

How can the government take a stand on this, when most of the cabinet use tax avoidance to keep money in their pockets rather than paying their fair share to society.

Where the banks compliant with the law even if it was a legal loophole? So how can it be classed as tax avoidance? Now the HMRC can go after others that have legally used these legal loopholes and claim tax avoidance. We will soon be paying above 70% of our income in taxes, like the people in Greece.

I'm surprised large companies bother with loopholes. Isn't easier just to ask HMRC to let them off? It seems to work every time.